Alert Cascade Announces Partnership With CereProc, Producing The First Mass Notification Service To Include UK Text To Speech (TTS) Voices With Regional Accents

As one of the few remaining UK owned and operated mass notification companies, Alert Cascade's latest platform release builds on the UK theme by including regional TTS voices designed and engineered by specialists based in Edinburgh.

Traditionally, UK TTS has been centred around Received Pronunciation (RP), but recent estimates show that only around 2% of the UK population actually use RP, with the figure being even lower in Northern Ireland and Scotland. With research showing that it is easier for listeners to process information when it is presented in the same accent they use, Alert Cascade's new release features regionally accented TTS voices for the first time.

Mass notification services are often used to provide vital information and instructions in difficult situations; Russell Pearson, Director of Alert Cascade Limited comments: "Our platforms are used for everything from letting parents know that schools are closed to warning and informing members of the public in the event of an incident at a petrochemical or nuclear site. Whilst there are some good "Queen's English" voices on the market, we felt that it was important to use voices that more accurately represent the people we're communicating with, and which make it easier for vital information to be clearly understood. The last thing we want during an emergency situation is people misunderstanding the message; our new partnership with CereProc has been exceptionally well received by customers and really does add another dimension to our voice messages."